An Englishman of forty years residence in Wales pontificates about politics (slightly off-message), films and trivia. Secretary of Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats. Candidate for Neath in the Westminster elections of 1997 & 2017 and the Welsh general election of 2016.

Saturday, 26 September 2015

Rail Wales

The latest issue of Railfuture Wales' magazine came through the door yesterday. On the back page is a photo of a new set of posts and booms outside Swansea station, ready to take the wires for the Hitachi electric train depot. So there is physical evidence to back Stephen Crabb's "total commitment" to electrification west of Cardiff. However, he did not guarantee the original timetable which depends on Network Rail's competence.

Elsewhere, there is a table showing the entries and exits, based on ticket sales, to Welsh rail stations in 2014 and the two previous years. I was surprised to see that Neath comes ninth with 820,188 movements, trailing the stations on the right as well as Cardiff Bay, Pontypridd and Trefforest. Cardiff Bay has seen a remarkable jump of around 28% over two years from 793,382 to 1,019,348. Port Talbot does not show at all, presumably being lumped in the "others" column at less than half-a-million movements per year. The reconstruction of the station may have affected the figures, which will no doubt also be impacted by the imminent redevelopment of the surrounding area.